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Ventura commander for California Highway Patrol gets baptism by fire

Less than 48 hours into his tenure as the California Highway Patrol’s Ventura-area commander, Capt. Aaron Goulding was thrust into a response to what would become the largest wildfire on official record in California.

Less than 48 hours into his tenure as the California Highway Patrol’s Ventura-area commander, Capt. Aaron Goulding was thrust into a response to what would become the largest wildfire on official record in California.

“I had just finished my second day at the office,” Goulding, 47, said.

Later on the evening of Dec. 4, he received a call reporting a fast-growing wildfire north of Santa Paula. The Thomas Fire would spread to nearly 2,500 acres that night, driven by gusty winds.

“You don’t expect it to get that big that fast,” Goulding said Thursday.

“As quick as it grew, we started immediately speeding up and getting resources available to deal with road closures and assisting as well as we could with all of the very imminent evacuations,” he said.

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Aaron Goulding is the new California Highway Patrol commander for the Ventura area.(Photo: JUAN CARLO/THE STAR)

Goulding, a 23-year CHP veteran, said being new to his position and the area did not hinder his agency’s response to the crisis.

“There’s no part of this job that is just one person,” he said. “Luckily for me, we have a lot of people that work here at the CHP that were born and raised here in Ventura. They know the area so well.”

Goulding said he drew upon the knowledge and experience of his staff as a resource for what became a multi-city and multi-week response.

“Although I might not have known every canyon or every roadway or area that was affected, I had amazing people that worked for me who had all that information,” he said.

California gold

Goulding was born in San Bernardino County and started with the sheriff’s office there in 1992 before transitioning to CHP two years later. He is a graduate of CSU Bakersfield.

Goulding is a married father of four adult children, two stepchildren and two grandchildren. Law enforcement runs in the family. His brother serves with the Bakersfield CHP unit and his son with the Barstow CHP unit.

Before arriving in Ventura County, he had assignments throughout the state with CHP, including in Los Angeles County and most recently Sacramento in a special assignment with the California State Lottery.

In Ventura, Goulding will oversee a staff of 90.

During his tenure as a CHP officer, Goulding became friends with his immediate predecessor, Capt. Terry Roberts, who recently retired.

“Knowing that I was coming in to follow a well-liked commander was an honor,” he said.

“I’ve wanted to work near the ocean for my entire career,” he said of Ventura County. “I had that opportunity, and it turned out really well.”

CHP officer Kevin Denharder, an agency spokesman, called Goulding “very well-experienced in what he does.”

Denharder said the new commander did a “fantastic job” responding to the recent fire and storm problems.

“When you get an emergency like this, you better pick it up and go and roll with it,” he said. “You get through it all or people are losing their houses or livelihoods.”

No rest for the weary

The response to the Thomas Fire allowed Goulding to grow with his staff.

“When you spend, on average, probably 15 to 16 hours a day working with the people around you, you get to know them very quickly,” he said.

“Also, it gave me the opportunity to work with all of the other allied (police and fire) agencies.”

Neither Goulding nor his staff got much respite, even as the Thomas Fire moved off into Los Padres National Forest.

Heavy rain and mudslides in early January closed many roadways in the region, including Highway 101 in Santa Barbara, which was covered in mud and debris, and Highway 33 in northern Ventura County, which was heavily damaged and nearly impassable.

Highway 101 reopened Jan. 21, but many roadways, particularly in Santa Barbara County, remained closed Friday.

Goulding said that when the rain hit, he and his staff, still in an emergency operations mode due to the Thomas Fire, were well-equipped to respond.

“It’s been really busy ever since I got here, that’s for sure,” he said.

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Aaron Goulding is the new California Highway Patrol commander for the Ventura area. He has a photo of his granddaughter Nora Goulding, 1, hanging in his office.(Photo: JUAN CARLO/THE STAR)

Day-to-day work

Transitioning out of disaster response into day-to-day operations, Goulding said he hopes to increase and maintain the CHP’s community outreach.

“We have a very diverse Ventura County, and I’d like to reach out to all the different community members and let them know that we’re here,” he said.

Community outreach “is a critical part of the job,” Goulding said. “I think that the more the community understands what we do and how we do it and that we’re there to serve them, that has a huge impact on the success of the Highway Patrol.”

The commander said he would like to see the continuation of programs such as Start Smart, which helps young drivers, and Every 15 Minutes, which focuses on curbing drinking and driving.